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Last summer, the Green Electronics Council got into a tussle with Apple over EPEAT — the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool. EPEAT is a standard that’s used to measure the overall environmental friendliness and impact of consumer products. Apple withdrew from EPEAT, reportedly because its latest MacBook Pro with Retina display wasn’t going to qualify under the GEC’s guidelines. The MBP w/ RD is notoriously difficult to service and repair, and the EPEAT guidelines stressed these characteristics.

After the kerfuffle exploded into major news, Apple rejoined EPEAT and announced that it would seek certification for all its products. As we expected, the EPEAT standards have been completely reinterpreted in a way that now confirms Apple’s self-awarded “Gold” certification and eviscerates the original purpose, using language so broad that jet-flying tyrannosaurs could easily clear the recycling bar.

Kyle Wiens from iFixit has more to say (and a great deal of useful insight in how the process works), but here’s the upshot. The question of whether or not Apple’s products would qualify under EPEAT hinged on whether or not they could be upgraded, accessed with common tools, and recyclable components must be “safely and easily identifiable and removable.”

We don’t have a problem with the decision to classify pentalobe screwdrivers as “easily available,” but the council has decided that any device with a USB or equivalent port now counts as “upgradable” and punted on the opportunity to help clarify what, precisely, made components easily removable for recycling purposes. Wiens summarizes with: “Apple’s MacBook Pro with Retina display is not repairable, it’s not upgradable, and it’s not easy to disassemble for recycling. But it is EPEAT Gold. The Product Verification Committee’s decision essentially greenwashes the Retina.

“Our engineers spent over an hour attempting to separate the battery from the computer, carefully prying to avoid puncturing the battery. If this same computer can earn a gold status, we should be asking ourselves, ‘What exactly can’t earn a green rating?'”

Do things like this matter? We’d argue yes. When the screen cracked on my iPhone 3G, getting it replaced wasn’t that big of a deal. On the iPhone 4S, such repairs are considerably more complicated. It’s easier to hand Apple $199 for a refurbished phone and walk away, particularly when attempting to do the repair yourself leaves the phone ineligible for such replacement.

But more than that, diluting these standards eventually erodes them to the point of uselessness. If all you need for a laptop to qualify is a USB port and an insanely hard to disassemble chassis, than what doesn’t qualify for EPEAT Gold? According to this latest report, precious little.

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luis3007

EPEAT: Your MBP w/RD does not qualify.
Apple: What!!! Are you sure?? There are million$$ of rea$on$ that point out it doe$ qualify!!
EPEAT: Errmmmm…….maybe……
Apple: Yes, it does!!! Have some more million$$ of rea$on$
EPEAT: Ok, your are qualified!!!!

preilly2

Good article. Apple has now become the big, ugly kid who demands your lunch money (or your life savings), or ELSE. EPEAT has now lost all credibility. Just what did Apple use to twist their arm, though? I’m curious.

Will Mills

As Luis3007 implies and I would happen to agree with him its money lots and lots of money. Its a sad state of affairs when behavior like this does not affect there bottom line.

Neon Frank

iMuwahahahaahhaha

rhonin

Once I confirmed this (EPEAT cert) I crossed them off my “great to have” certifications for a purchase list.

http://www.facebook.com/andrew.s.hodge Andrew Steven Hodge

So according to apple, the processor and CPU are two different things,now?

JDRahman

Click the image to see it larger. Its Processor and GPU. The ‘G’ looks a bit too much like a ‘C’
Good catch though.

Michael Barton

Apple is now what Microsoft used to be and yet people now hate Microsoft because they are too user friendly and Apple fandboys still love apple because they are blinded by foolish trends of Starbucks coffee cups and apple laptops sporting an apple logo on the back. You know the funny thing is my HP laptop was stripped of it’s Energy Star BIOS certification because the HP logo could not be turned off? yet it got 9 hours of battery life by using switchable graphics and a Phenom II X3 processor. My my now “standards” are won and lost by how much money a company is willing to pay them.

http://www.facebook.com/icedruids Jordan Back

This is literally an Asus Zenbook, UX32/UX31 etc. After working on many of them, the layout is the same, but the parts are soldered directly to the board instead of being user upgradeable/replaceable.

JDRahman

It is very difficult for a company to remain like-able once it goes from under-dog to over-dog. Even when they’re doing things right. Humbleness helps, like Google (in my opinion)

In Apples case, they are now as arrogant as Microsoft. But I guess thats what you get when your “Go To Market” strategy is daylight robbery. Though Microsoft has done this with a lot more success – selling vaporware for ridiculously high prices with no liabilities, protected by air tight licensing agreements.

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